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Uncharted 4: Sam Drake's Makeover, "Weird Changes."

M

mindsale

Member
Now that Uncharted 4 has come out and fans have had a chance to go through its narrative, it's interesting to think about that initial teaser trailer with Sam Drake portrayed by Todd Stashwick. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SnJPTkrD7o)

Alan Tudyk was also cast as a voice actor, and was quoted, "I left because they decided to go a different way with [Uncharted 4], and so when they did that, when they changed leadership, it made my contract null and void and I was able to take that opportunity to walk away, which was great because I got the experience of doing it. Todd Stashwick was in that as well... and he did the same thing I did, which was, 'Yeah, we're gonna leave now. Y'all are making some weird changes, we're gonna leave.'"

Do you prefer the change in direction and tone that the character of Sam Drake took? From a seeming antagonist hunting Drake to a jovial cohort? Was the initial darker tone better served in a project like The Last of Us 2? Will Stashwick or Tudyk again work with Naughty Dog?

(I accidentally published this post before it was ready for prime time, don't mean to frivolously edit).
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
While the cast and behind-the-scenes change-ups are maybe a little uncommon. The story changing doesn't really seem that uncommon. If you look at, for example, many Disney films and how they changed direction during production stuff like this doesn't seem strange at all. Sometimes finding the right story requires changing course a few times.

I think having Sam as this angry vengeful brother who we've never heard of before, showing up out of the blue to exact revenge on Nate would've been very cliche and soap-opera esque, if that was indeed the direction they were going in. The fact that the game leads you to believe maybe Sam isn't as trustworthy as he seems, only to deny going down that road and instead use him as a representation of who Nate was a few years ago was a much more interesting, less conventional, and thematically meaningful story direction.
 
T

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Based on the teaser VO it seems like Sam was originally
the antagonist which in the game is Rafe and a "good bro Sam" character was a new addition among the changes they made
?
 
J

jett

D-Member
Alan Tudyk was going to be in this game? Amy Hennig really likes Firefly, doesn't she. It's funny how him and another Firefly alumn (composer Greg Edmonson) were cut from the franchise when she left.
 
H

Hung_real

Member
Didn't Amy Hennig leave during that time due to "creative differences" as well ?

Her leaving probably leading to the changes i imagine
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
I can't really say without knowing what we would have gotten instead. I will say that the story of Uncharted 4 is largely fantastic, and easily the best of the series though, with surprising maturity and subtlety without losing the tone that I love about Uncharted.
 
U

Unknown One

Member
Very curious about the direction of the story pre-change. If it was dark as I imagined it would be, then the changes are just in my opinion as a fan. I like my Uncharted light hearted.
 
M

mindsale

Member
Out of sheer chance I saw both North and Tudyk speak at a PAX East panel a few weeks ago. I had no idea they may've done VA together in an Uncharted and may've had a history.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
I love Stashwick's voice. Have listened to that teaser over a hundred times. Baker's Sam was fine, but it didn't feel like a full character in the way that Joel did.

Interested to know what the original story was going to be, although I suspect we won't know anytime soon.
 
C

CrichtonKicks

Member
jett said:
Alan Tudyk was going to be in this game? Amy Hennig really likes Firefly, doesn't she. It's funny how him and another Firefly alumn (composer Greg Edmonson) were cut from the franchise when she left.
Click to expand...

Were they cut or did they leave voluntarily? Tudyk makes it sound like it was the former for him. Edmonson I haven't heard anything about. Doesn't look like he's in a situation to turn down work.

mindsale said:
Out of sheer chance I saw both North and Tudyk speak at a PAX East panel a few weeks ago. I had no idea they may've done VA together in an Uncharted and may've had a history.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall a tweet that suggested Tudyk might be working on Hennig's Star Wars game. I will be completely stunned if North doesn't have a significant part in that one as well so they may have a game together coming up.
 
S

samuraidino

Member
Is there any confirmation that he was originally playing Sam?

I mean, going by the teaser, yes that's essentially what happens to Sam. But for all we know that could have originally been some former associate of Nathan's that ended up in the prison, and the weird changes were actually changing that original antagonistic sounding character from a guy that nate did a job with, to his brother instead.
 
T

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
CrichtonKicks said:
Were they cut or did they leave voluntarily? Tudyk makes it sound like it was the former for him. Edmonson I haven't heard anything about. Doesn't look like he's in a situation to turn down work.



I seem to recall a tweet that suggested Tudyk might be working on Hennig's Star Wars game. I will be completely stunned if North doesn't have a significant part in that one as well so they may have a game together coming up.
Click to expand...

Todd Stashwick is working on Hennig's Star Wars game too.
 
D

DNAbro

Member
ZeroX03 said:
I love Stashwick's voice. Have listened to that teaser over a hundred times. Baker's Sam was fine, but it didn't feel like a full character in the way that Joel did.

Interested to know what the original story was going to be, although I suspect we won't know anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I think i've heard Troy Baker in too many games. I kept thinking "oh yeah that's troy baker" often, which is not really a complaint just that his voice is pretty distinct.
 
M

mindsale

Member
jett said:
Alan Tudyk was going to be in this game? Amy Hennig really likes Firefly, doesn't she. It's funny how him and another Firefly alumn (composer Greg Edmonson) were cut from the franchise when she left.
Click to expand...

I totally get that sense, about Firefly. Incidentally I spoke with Edmonson last year and he's an insanely nice guy. I like the flamenco, not-quite-Santaolalla riffs on Nate's Theme 4.0 but I kind of miss Edmonson's big string bombast.
 
D

Dragonslayer_023

Banned
I can only assume that
Sam was originally going to be a much more villainous character, which would fit with the original teaser when the game was announced.
Can't imagine the story being better than what ended up in the game though.
 
C

CrichtonKicks

Member
Is anyone surprised that Hennig didn't get some kind of "Story By..." credit? I get that it isn't the WGA but if this was Hollywood then there are clearly enough details carried forward that she would have probably at least been credited for story and maybe even screenplay.
 
R

Raxus

Member
Acquiescence said:
I think the original vision of the game was intended to be a lot darker, with Sam being a full-fledged antagonist.
Click to expand...

It'd honestly make the title of the game come full circle too. Besides the Tew and Avery storyline playing in the background the main storyline was shockingly kind of basic.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Would love to know more about Amy Henning and that other guys original plan as for Uncharted 4.


Anyway I like Sam in U4 but I guess I can how it grew from the original idea which was probably "he was stuck in prison and now he is out for revenge against the Brother he believes abandoned him there".

I dunno man. Thats a bit cheese ball edgy for my liking but it fits if its the Uncharted 3 people I guess,



It seems like the current U4 totally grew out of those original ideas though so it would be cool to know what that first vision was and see the difference.
 
BigTnaples

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Totally forgot about that teaser...



Haven't finished it yet, (like chapter 17), but I like the direction ND took the game. I think it fits Uncharted's soul better.

And yes, that darker tone is more suited to TLoU. Keep the properties tonally different.


I like the somewhat darker tone that UC4 took, but this seems like it would have been overboard.
 
G

Gorillaz

Member
Yea the first thing I did after besting 4 was rewatch thst 2013 uncharted trailer again

Honestly the story beats looked about the same expect the obvious with the narrator.
Everything from the 15 years in prison to the map and hints of Avery Paradise was mentioned.

I wonder if when Neil and Bruce started this one after Amy left if they wanted to go thst direction in the first place or had to make due. I now want to see what the UC3 team would have done after dealing with the criticism of 3.
 
M

mindsale

Member
DNAbro said:
I think i've heard Troy Baker in too many games. I kept thinking "oh yeah that's troy baker" often, which is not really a complaint just that his voice is pretty distinct.
Click to expand...

Troy Baker is so immersion-breaking for me. I can pick his voice out from every other character in Batman: Arkham Knight and MGSV and pretty much any other game.

That said, he disappears in Joel (and North disappears as David) in Last of Us.
 
C

CrichtonKicks

Member
Raxus said:
It'd honestly make the title of the game come full circle too. Besides the Tew and Avery storyline playing in the background the main storyline was shockingly kind of basic.
Click to expand...

There are a tremendous amount of parallels in the Tew and Avery story with what is happening in the modern day story.

It's by far the most elaborate story the series has had.

Gorillaz said:
I wonder if when Neil and Bruce started this one after Amy left if they wanted to go thst direction in the first place or had to make due. I now want to see what the UC3 team would have done after dealing with the criticism of 3.
Click to expand...

I suspect they had to make due. They likely had already created a tremendous number of assets already. I wonder if part of the why the game is so polished is because the extension after the shakeup allowed them to just keep on churning out models, animation, etc with a much longer dev time. Druckley may have only been on the project for about 2 years but I imagine a good chunk of ND were working on it for more like 3+ years.
 
S

Spizz

Banned
I'm curious as to how he would've been portrayed. But, considering we got a great addition to the crew in Sam; and the best villain in the series with Rafe, I'm perfectly fine with Druckmann and Straley's Uncharted 4.
 
C

Carn82

Member
nib95 said:
I'm glad they went the direction they did instead of having Sam be some pseudo caricature villain. The end result is so much more nuanced and well thought out.
Click to expand...

I havent finished the game yet so not reading the link, but I do agree. This way it also enriches Drake's story much more (where did he come from, what drives him, etc), and it also shows the faults in both characters better. And that is what makes a character great; the shades of grey and not just black and white.

But yeah, Uncharted 4 is basically gaming's version of a big Hollywood production; cast and story changes are one of the lesser sides of that; but -usually- for the better.
 
8

80s Bad Guy

Banned
What we got was much more complex and subtle than before. It's still pulp, and still pretty broad, but at least they grounded it in a way that makes sense for the series.

Sorry Alan, I think you chose poorly.
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Raxus said:
It'd honestly make the title of the game come full circle too. Besides the Tew and Avery storyline playing in the background the main storyline was shockingly kind of basic.
Click to expand...

I disagree completely. Easily the most thoughtful and human story in the series. In my opinion, the best character work of any of the four games, and the best treasure mystery plot.

The fact that the game doesn't reduce Sam to a simple and cliched betrayal arc is one of the things that makes it's narrative great.
 
F

FelipeMGM

Member
Clearly Sam was the villain based on the 2013 teaser.

We dont know how that would've paid off, but I sure as hell loved Druckley work on this one. Best story of the series, and Sam is a great character
 
E

eFKac

Member
All we can do is to speculate, but after that teaser, that Sam doesn't seem very subtle, a long gone vengeful villain is pretty cliche, glad they've gone with the new more nuanced and mature storyline.

Plus
Sully found a new bro when Nate left him for Elena!
 
F

FluxWaveZ

Member
Unknown One said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Rafe and old Sam was the same person.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I could see that.

Interesting seeing that teaser again after so long; a definite sign of the game's different direction. I don't think whatever it's portraying is inherently bad, but the final product's story was great, so it's not like the change bothers me.
 
T

Tuck

Member
shagg_187 said:
I wonder what these changes were...
Click to expand...

One thing we can say for sure is that Sam was meant to be much more antagonistic.

The setup was the same -
Sam gets stuck in jail for 15 years.
But his attitude towards Drake was completely different.

Its hard to say which would have been better. But the story in Uncharted 4 is so good, and the character interactions are such a highlight, that I can say I'm quite happy with how things turned out.
 
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